Kalpana Chawla
Astronaut
Kalpana Chawla (1962-2003) was the first Indian American astronaut and the first Indian woman in space. She came to the United States at age 20 and earned a PhD in Aerospace Engineering at University of Colorado, Boulder. She first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia STS-87 in 1997, and in 2003 she was one of the seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 disaster. Chawla was honored posthumously with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 2004.
(Portrait by Lindsay Clark, SFSU 2015)
CHAWLA Kalpana (Clark L) BW.pdf820.75 KB